


never again

by ballerinaroy



Series: romione drabbles [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:07:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ballerinaroy/pseuds/ballerinaroy
Summary: After weeks of unpleasantness, Ron and Hermione make up.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Series: romione drabbles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1870747
Comments: 8
Kudos: 50





	never again

She pretended not to notice when he came out of the tent that evening, hours before the start of his shift. They’d been getting along better ever since the Lovegood fiasco, but she wasn’t ready to forgive him, not fully. He’d hurt her in a way no one else ever had and even though she was grateful he was back, that he was safe, it didn’t change what had happened.

“Everything alright?” Ron asked, ignoring that she was actively ignoring him and walking over.

“Fine,” she said shortly, still not looking up from her book.

“Nothing new?” he pestered.

“No,” she said in the same curt tone, hoping he’d get the message that she wasn’t in the mood for company.

But whether he was unaware or had received her message it and chosen to ignore the fact that she wanted her solitude, he continued to hover around her, gazing at her until she finally looked up and then pretended to be surveying the relative darkness of the woods.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” she snapped after playing the look away game for several minutes.

Disappointment flickered over his features.

“Can’t seem to,” he replied in the same warm voice. “Didn’t want to wake Harry, thought I might come and keep you company.”

Hermione shook her head and returned her attention back to her book.

“Mind if I sit down?”

“You’ll do what you want either way,” she muttered, loud enough that he was meant to hear. “With no regard to-“

“I fucked up Hermione,” he said loudly, cutting her off. At once her eyes snapped to his, ready to tell him off for using such foul language, but he didn’t give her the time. “I fucked up and I left you and that was the biggest mistake of my life. I can tell you it wasn’t me or that it was the Horcrux but when it comes down to it I was too weak to fight off what it was saying.”

“And what was it saying?”

Ron stopped very suddenly and looked at her. It was clear that he’d let slip something he hadn’t meant to.

“What was it saying?” she repeated.

He’d already confessed it was her voice coming out of the diluminator, and while the notion had made her heart flutter, it hadn’t explained why he’d left her. Ron suddenly became very quiet and she wanted to look away, to give him privacy for his shame. It occurred to her that he might not be talking about Dumbledore's gift at all. 

“That I wasn’t good enough,” he said in a voice that broke her heart. “For Harry, for this, _for you_. That I was holding you back, that I was putting my family in danger for selfish reasons. That I’d only come because I knew I was no good at school and wouldn’t make it there, that I-“

He broke off and she was torn between stopping him and letting him finish.

“That I was nothing and that I wasn’t wanted here in the first place.” His face twisted into something fierce, confident and he met her eyes fully. “But no matter what it said, no matter what I did, I’m not going to make that mistake again. I’m here, Hermione,whether you want me or not because I promised Harry that I’d be with him whatever happened and I promised you that I’d protect you. So I’m here, I’m not leaving. If you need to be cross with me then fine, I bloody well deserve it, but it’s not going to change that.”

“Well there’s no need to yell at me,” she answered stiffly.

Ron looked at her oddly and crouched down beside her, bracing one hand against the tree she had her back to and their faces were mere inches from one another. “I’m not leaving you ever again, Hermione. Understand?”

She stared back at him, mesmerized by the intensity of his stare and nodded her head. He grinned but didn’t move away, their eyes locked on one another. When he did finally lean back onto the soles of his shoes, she let go of a breath she hadn’t known she was holding.

“Can I sit here?” he asked quietly and again she nodded, moving over on the blanket she’d lay on the cold ground so he could join her.

He sat closer than he ever had dared, their legs flush and he gathered his hands in his lap.

“Still on this?” he asked, but it wasn’t in the hesitant voice they’d been communicating in for the last several weeks.

“I’m reading through the other ones,” she explained, showing him the passage she’d been skimming.

“Think Dumbledore left more clues?” he questioned, gazing at the page even though he was less than knowledgable in runes.

Hermione shook her head. “Not particularly, but there isn’t much else to read.”

“Really?” he asked, looking surprised. “What about all those books you packed?”

She shrugged. “I’d already read them before we came, I brought most of them along for reference.”

He shook his head, looking amused. “You packed a whole library, Hermione.”

“I managed a copy of Rita’s book on Dumbledore, but it’s so awful,” she answered, pulling a face. “I thought I might read through these again, maybe Dumbledore did leave another clue.”

“I never did get around to reading that,” he joked, hand twitching as if he was thinking about reaching for hers. “Give me the highlights then.”

Hermione considered telling him to read it for himself if he were so interested, but she didn’t, choosing instead to shut her book and very carefully unfolded the blanket around her shoulders to fit them both. “Did you ever hear the story about how his nose got broken?”

“No,” Ron said, looking genuinely interested. He accepted the blanket without a word but there was color in his cheeks as he put his arm around her so they would both be sheltered. “Wait, wasn’t it something to do with a funeral?”

Hermione nodded, “And you’ll never guess how his sister died…”


End file.
